HuffPo genius who called for coup: It was satire, wingnuts

posted at 11:25 pm on August 26, 2007 by Allahpundit

Uh huh. It’s the first satire in history with no discernible target. Here’s a sample of something he left in the comments to the original post that showcases his rip-roaring brand of fun-pokin’ hijinks:

I ask General Pace to do two things. One is to relieve the President of his command as Commander-In-Chief. The other is to place the President under military arrest. It is arguable as to the conflict between the Constitution and the Uniform Code Of Military Justice. One of the important legal ramifications of My Lai was the obligation to relieve a senior officer of his/her command in exceptional circumstances. If General Pace was performing a military imperative in a peaceful, non-threatening manner and simply informed Mr. Bush that he was being relieved of his military command, there would be no justification for the Secret Service to act as you suggest. Whatever the ultimate consequence, the impact of such a courageous and noble act on behalf of his nation, would be significant.

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Funny or not,i know times have been a changing,
but years ago you would never say this crap,if you did,it would be in a very quiet room,whispering this treason to some idiot that would listen.And especially you wouldn’t
utter a word openly about a sitting President.
And again,this garbage,funny or not is championed by the
left.Bottom line ,absolutely no respect for a sitting
Conservative President,or for that matter any Republican.

We’re missing a great opportunity here. We have an actual comedian running for a Senate seat: Al Franken. I’d like someone to ask him if he thinks that it was satire.
By the way, he’s insane.
I was at our county fair this weekend, and I stopped by the Democrats fair booth to say hi. (no booth babes, just two old gray guys)
I asked them what they thought of the political season so far, and they told me that the Dem politicians never listen to them, always take their votes for granted, assuming that they will vote the party ticket no matter who is running.
I asked the gray gentlemen, “Are they wrong?” and they didn’t really have an answer for me.

I’m not sure she’s capable of embarrassment. He, on the other hand, is a useless twit that doesn’t deserve this much attention. In fact, in another era, he’d be up on charges — and rightly so.

In theory but not really. I mean if you read the stuff The Chicago Tribune used to publish when FDR was prosecuting WWII you’d see it’s always been US policy to give eccentric journalists the benefit of the doubt. Even Lincoln had to put up with mad, raving copperheads/moonbats. The charge of treason is generally reserved for serious enemies of America like Tokyo Rose and Adam Gadhan.

“Satire” is always the liberal fallback. C’mon nutroots, make a fun excuse, this one’s tired, you’re supposed to be the ‘creative’ ones!

Bad Candy on August 26, 2007 at 11:48 PM

QFT.

That’s been Michael Moore’s standard excuse for how many years now? He makes a film, labels it a “documentary” (silly me, but growing up, I always thought documentaries were supposed to have SOME sort of factual accuracy to them), and then whenever people compile the numerous inconsistencies, inaccuracies and flat-out lies he’s made in said film (and people are pretty quick to do it these days – looks like people are finally hip to Mikey’s gimmick), he always responds with, “Oh, it was meant to be a satire.”

Uh-huh. We don’t buy it when Moore does it, and I imagine anyone who’s not a rabid moonbat is smart enough to recognize Martin Lewis’ excuse for the BS that it is.

Well, if we were to dim-witted to realized it was a satire, so were the lefties who commented under the original post.
–
Unless the entire Huffpo is, by definition, self-satire, a point of view I am willing to entertain.

Ah yes – the lefties always try this particular “It’s satire” line whenever they get busted for they get busted being stupis…the wonkette tools tried this after rather embarassingly falling for the Coptix prank in a big way and the photoshoppped Malkin photo.

Remember that rather obvious photoshop? Not only did Wonkette run it, claiming it to be real, but even after it was proven it wasn’t Michelle Malkin at all — the girl whose flickr account it was taken from identified herself — but then childishly simply refused to admit they had erred…

…The shrieking ninnies at Wonkette can’t do that, though. They can never simply admit they made an error. And thus — similar to in the case of the Malkin photoshop — they now appear to claim they never really believed any of it and and they kinda knew [Coptix] it was all a lark the whole time!

One of the important legal ramifications of My Lai was the obligation to relieve a senior officer of his/her command in exceptional circumstances. If General Pace was performing a military imperative in a peaceful, non-threatening manner and simply informed Mr. Bush that he was being relieved of his military command, there would be no justification for the Secret Service to act as you suggest.

ZOMG ROFLMAO THAT IS SOME OF TEH FUNNIEST SATIRE I HAVE EVER READ! WHAT A COMICAL GENIUS!!!!!!!1111111one111

Hey guys, you should lighten up on this guy. It was a satire. Of liberals. After all, who else would make a post displaying their complete lack of knowledge regarding American law and government dressed as a call to forcibly end the Bushreich, then spend their time defending their own clear insanity in the comments?

I logged on at HuffPo and asked if it’s possible that the calls for him to be deported, shot, and so forth were satire as well. Wonder if my comment will go through?

I like his simultaneous claims that he’s “just a minor satirist on a small soapbox” but that everybody should have known he was kidding because he’s such a famous humorist who’s written so many wonderful things.

===========MARTIN RESPONDS===========

Have fun worshipping at the altar of Rove, you right-wing Swift-boat nut.

And interestingly enough? I’ve read Swift…. very little of his writing could be taken for literal…. I mean come on… where are the Giants, or Lilliputians in this guys writings??? He’s using real names, real UCMJ articles, and suggesting real people do things…

This is a blatant incitement to rebelion… this is no satire no matter how he “spins” it now…

Or is it just that us Right wing Rovophiles are unedjumacated??? Is this a Kerry type Joke???

The charge of treason is generally reserved for serious enemies of America like Tokyo Rose and Adam Gadhan.

Funny that you should mention Rose. The “Rose” that was convicted of treason, Iva Toguri, actually didn’t say anything that was particularly treasonous, according to investigations. In fact, she slyly used language that would make it clear that her public animosity toward Americans was false, in effect using the subtle tool of irony to make Americans remain unconcerned about her reports and make the Japanese believe that she was cooperating. One could nearly argue that she used satire to help the American cause.

That use was so subtle it got her railroaded on treason charges. Contrast that with the Post guy. You can just picture him stealing Swift. “LET’S EAT BABIES!!” he’d say. Why is that satire? “Because I’ve never eaten a baby and don’t have immediate plans of doing so. Don’t you idiots get it?”

Sec. 2388. Activities affecting armed forces during war by inciting insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States

Sec. 2387. Activities affecting armed forces generally, by advising, counseling, urging, or in any manner causing or attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States

Sec. 2384. Seditious conspiracy

Sec. 2383. Rebellion or insurrection

So, given that in the United States, the ordinary American has the right to make a citizen’s arrest of suspects committing or having committed a felony, consider yourself on notice: IF I SEE YOU ON THE STREET, I WILL ATTEMPT TO AFFECT YOUR ARREST. Please don’t resist.

Nah. Don’t worry. It’s ONLY SATIRE! I don’t mean it. Just like you didn’t mean it.

The article couldn’t possibly be satire of George Bush. All Bush is doing in this story is (presumably) sitting in the Oval Office, not suspecting he might later get a farcical demand to step down. Apparently some moonbats believe that being born was Bush’s original sin, but this story doesn’t add anything new to that.

Or could this self-proclaimed Johnathan Swift be trying to “satirize” General Pace by saying he might be such a psychopath that Pace might actually take the author’s letter seriously? There’s nothing in the article (or as far as I know anywhere else) to make the reader imagine anything to that effect.

The only possibility this leaves is that the author must me making fun of the kind of idiot who might WRITE a letter like that (and presumably also the “Constitutional justification” he followed it up with.) So the only person he could possibly be making fun of is HIMSELF. And he gives the reader every reason to believe that he has no clue that he’s doing so.

In other words: this Martin Lewis character isn’t making a joke; he is the joke.

A few notes on the issue of Tokyo Rose: President Gerald Ford pardoned her on the last day of his term of office, decades after she completed her sentence. His reasoning was (1) there were multiple “Tokyo Rose’s” — women broadcasting to the American forces from Tokyo. The evidence that linked her, the woman on trial, to the specific utterances was extremely tenous. (2) The fairness and objectivity of the judge trying the case was in doubt. Therefore “Rose” was pardoned.

This was NOT the case with Mildred Gillars, also known as “Axis Sally,” the other woman convicted of treason for broadcasting enemy propaganda, this time for the Nazis. She was not pardoned.

years ago you would never say this crap,if you did,it would be in a very quiet room,whispering this treason to some idiot that would listen.And especially you wouldn’t
utter a word openly about a sitting President.

just wish we would get to see just how many jurists would appreciate the Satire of his comments were he to be tried for sedition.

Sorry for the ignorance, and this is coming from a total conservative (and Lewis’ column was NOT satire – what a tool he is for claiming that), but I thought since Lewis specifically said ‘no use of force or illegal actions,’ that this is free speech and not treason? No lawyer here, but…the comments above don’t sound like the US I know where we are free (to paraphrase the great PJ O’Rourke) to stand on a street corner with impunity shouting “Bush bites his farts!” or the equivalent.

Even calling for the legal arrest, if such is possible under the UMCJ, isn’t that free speech here? And this is not a sarcastic question, but a real one.

inviolet asks: “Even calling for the legal arrest, if such is possible under the UMCJ, isn’t that free speech here?”

Ans: No.

There are limitations of “free speech.” Defamation is one such limitation. Shouting “Fire!” in a theater is another. Lying under oath is not protected as free speech.

There is a long list of other exclusion as well. Here, we are dealing with an open call for the military to mutiny and overthrow the US Government in a coup d’etat.

If we go back to WWI, there is the famous Schenk decision. Charles T. Schenk was convicted of printing and distributing pamphlets to draftees urging them to refuse to go. In the unanimous ruling, the court said:

When a nation is at war many thing which might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its efforts that their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight and no court could regard them as protected by any Constitutional right. [Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Schenk v. US, 249 US 47, 52 (1919)]

This decision means that there are are limitations on free speech during war time, and advocating mutiny among the troops is one of them.

Lewis’ comments were clear violations of a whole list of criminal statutes in the US Code, including inciting General Pace to lead a mutiny and to forcibly remove the President of the United States from power.

This man should be arrested and upon conviction, sentenced to the maximum allowed under the statute, and deported immediately after completing his sentence.

I love this kind of stuff. When they let down their guard just a bit and reveal themselves to be the hateful, extremists they really are… then they realize they let the damaging truth out… they back track and claim they were “joking.”

So, jsut add disingenuous to the mix of their other extremist personality defects.

BTW, I wonder if it was “satire” when the Hufftard commenters were hoping for Cheney’s death on several occassions? If the Hufftards are so funny, why did Arianna have to close the comments for the post on the passing of Rev. Falwell? Etc, and so on, y’all know the score.

C’mon guys…how many times we gotta have this “free speech” lecture? Quibbling over what is and is not ‘protected’ speech…no “fire” in theaters etc ad nauseum.

The “freedom” enshrined in the concept of “free speech” is not freedom from consequence, but freedom from _government preemption_. The reason you’ll get shafted for shouting “fire” in a theater (presuming that there is no fire) is not because of your words per se (you remain at liberty to shout whatever you want, wherever you want), but rather as a _consequence_ of your irresponsible act – recklessly endangering the lives of others by potentially causing panic. The reason you’ll get locked up for lying under oath is not because you are not free to utter falsities, but as a consequence of perverting the course of justice.

This idiot should be free to make such statements, and if HuffPo is willing to tolerate their presence, then the stink will stick to all associated. Shine the spotlight on all concerned and do what it takes to ensure that the people know what immature incompetent libtards they are – render them politically impotent.

We should always remain free to discuss the overthrow (partial or complete) of tyrannical government…and current laws to the contrary are ones I find very troublesome.

The liberal evasion of accountability is accomplished with words like “satire” (because it’s oh-so clever humor that you knuckle-dragging monkeys don’t get) and “context” (because you aforementioned monkeys are incapable of parsing nuanced semantics).

I’ll believe the rest of your assertion when I start to see these corrupt fascists being voted out of office…until then, I’ll continue with my theory that the general public have all the intellectual horsepower of a goldfish, and are endlessly hoodwinkable by simple linguistic misdirection.

Is Ochlan, Entelchy (sp?), Loundry, and a few others, are they really posters, or are they plants to make silly statements to get us to post?

No offense HA, but do you use shills? Because I don’t think people really think this way. Or is there such a cross section of people that these guys end up here by chance. Kind of like the 10% who think Elvis is still alive, or that we never went to the moon, or that there were gold tablets in a secret (oops that’s Mitt), or that 9/11 was an “inside” job.

What _are_ you blathering on about r2b? Care to point me in the direction of the warm glowing light of hope still evident in the electorate? I see very little evidence to suggest that the general public are especially aware of the unique foundations underpinning American civilization. I _do_ see stunningly transparent charlatans being constantly reelected by witless automatons, however…hence my disdain. Yes. I really _do_ think like this. No ‘shilling’ here. The incredulity communicated in your response gives me further cause for concern. Are you awake?

Dorian, I’ve no idea where you get your percipience, but I hope it works out…for all our sakes.

general public have all the intellectual horsepower of a goldfish, and are endlessly hoodwinkable by simple linguistic misdirection.

Ochlan on August 27, 2007 at 3:07 PM

You are part of the general public…yes, you are whom you are talking about. You are part of the general public, unless you think you are so special as to have “special” insight.

If you ask every one of the “general public” if they fit that description they would say what?
A. I am exactly that, I think like a goldfish
B. I am not like that, you are talking about someone else.

And your answer is…B, that same as the general public.

Get it? You are who you say others are.

I do not think you are real. An intelligent person would never think of themselves as having the intellect of goldfish…hence the suggestion that you are a shill to make posts more interesting.

You are either a shill, or part of the general public. I will not be endlessly hoodwinkable by simple linguistic misdirection. Whatever the heck that means. Therefore you are also a failure at being a shill.

He is part of the general public, he is alas also disillusioned and disenchanted with the body politic. As I pointed out before, some 60 percent of the electorate has become so disgusted with politics that they have disengaged from the system altogether. Ochlan looks as though he to is headed towards disengagement from the body politic.

What he doesn’t seem to understand is that it is that disengagement from the body politic that creates the problems that are in fact driving him away from politics. The more that rational logical reasonable people disengage from politics out of disgust the greater the impact that the loony liberal left has on the political process.

Maverick Ochlan you are not cleared to break off, repeat do not disengage…

What he doesn’t seem to understand is that it is that disengagement from the body politic that creates the problems that are in fact driving him away from politics. The more that rational logical reasonable people disengage from politics out of disgust the greater the impact that the loony liberal left has on the political process.

Isn’t that the Left’s goal anyway? Frustrate and disgust the smart folks so they drift away from politics and the political process. This helps eliminate, obviously, roadblocks and challenges to their agenda.